To implantable device users the EMF may cause life-threatening effects. When pacemakers are installed, most doctors warn patients to stay away from EMF, and Radio Frequency (RF) sources. However, EMF and RF are invisible and today's life is full of electrical appliances. How to know when to avoid electrical interference is a bothersome matter for the pacemaker and other implantable device patients. Our apparatus addresses this issue.
Although those implantable devices have adopted some improvements to reduce the sensitivity from EMF and RF, there are still substantial amount of reported cases where patients were affected by the electrical/magnetic sources. There are also some complementary implantable devices intended to detect the EMF for the implantable devices. For example, Meltzer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,379) discloses such a device in 1997. It can be implanted near the pacemakers or defibrillators to detect pulsed interferences. However there are other sources which could cause damage to the pacemakers or defibrillators, and there is a need to cover a wider frequency range for today's modern electrical equipment. In addition to that, this portable detector has no surgery involved so it is less complicated and the price is much lower. Patients can use it to discover which equipment has the potential to harm their implanted devices and maybe make some alterations to make the environment safer for them. For example, they can use the apparatus to discover which brand of equipment is safe for them and which is not, then they can switch to the safe one. They can also get to know what is the distance they should stay away from some equipment. They can use it whenever they need it and put is aside after they are familiar with the environment and have confidence that the electrical equipment will not affect their implantable devices. There are many patents and publication about implantable devise such as pacemakers or defibrillators. One example is Krause et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,429 B1). However there are few of patents and publications contributing to the protection of the implantable devices.
One related issue is that EMF has different properties and different ways of causing harmful biological effects. Some people become ill from many types of EMF sources, such as alarm clocks too close to their bed, sitting too close to a TV or computer, or using a cell phone. Reported symptoms are headaches, arm and leg tingling, dizziness, difficulty in concentrating, and even nausea. Although not proven, more serious problems might be caused by prolonged exposure to EMF. Most scientists agree that it is wise to protect ourselves from biological effects that are known to exist. For this purpose there are some EMF detectors on the market, e.g. TriField meter, and Radiation Finder. However, the thresholds and frequency ranges of normal EMF detectors and our apparatus are different and therefore the circuits to realize the detection are different accordingly. In addition to that our apparatus in the invention covers all the sources that could cause damage to the implantable devise which TriField meter, and Radiation Finder do not.
Strong EMF Sources that could interfere the implanted devices:
Strong EMF sources in our environment highly depend on what people do, where people go, and how people live. For example, if people live in downtown of a big city they may encounter many sources; if they are an electrician or welder then they definitely get close to electrical equipment more than other people. There are some common sources they could use to test the unit from time to time:
1. On the door seal of microwave ovens.
2. Less than 1 inch from the AC/DC adaptor used for the answering machine, CD player, or other small appliances.